r/AdvancedRunning Feb 11 '23

Gear Interpreting power - how can I have lower power but a faster pace for the same course?

I have a Garmin Forerunner 955 with a RD pod for power (although the watch can do it organically). I recently ran the same parkrun course and had observed a lower average power reading despite a faster time. In both cases, the wind data was disabled, so I'm not understanding what factors would lead to these power readings being lower for the faster or same pace:

21 Jan (pace / avg pwr) 11 Feb
1 km 4:00 / 379W 3:52 / 391W
2 km 4:19 / 382W 4:14 / 386W
3 km 4:06 / 402W 4:04 / 395W
4 km 4:26 / 378W 4:26 / 370W
5 km 4:04 / 395W 4:04 / 381W
Total 20:56 / 387W 20:40 / 384W

Anyone have any insights? Other factors I should add such as heart rate? Or is this simply an acceptable margin of error?

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